I got the chance to watch a few films that I hadn't seen in a while. I looked at PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO which stars Ray Milland as a man who is on vacation with his family when nuclear war strikes. He and his family must then fight for survival. Milland directed this film and does a great job on both ends of the camera. Frankie Avalon and jean Hagen also star. If you haven't seen this yet, I recommend you do.
I also re-watched THE THING WITH TWO HEADS which also stars Milland. This time he is a doctor who is dying of cancer. He has perfected head transplantation and is looking to have his head grafted onto another body. To make matters worse he is a bigot and the only body the doctors can find is that of a death row in mate named Jack played by Rosie Greer. This is an odd, but very entertaining movie. When I was watching this the other day someone came in and saw it on the Tv and asked "what the hell is this?" to which I told them...they looked at it for a few seconds and simply said "Oh my God. The things you watch." that is the general reaction to this film for the uninitiated.
Both films never fail to entertain, but on totally different levels. Both are available on DVD from MGM.
These movies are great fun to watch. Panic in the year Zero really hits the mark on what happens in a chaotic cataclysm, only in a very small way focusing on just one family. But the concept was very real and I love the part Ray Milland plays in that he is a no nonsense, no BS, survivalist. The thing with two heads is a scream. The dialogue and racial comments they do in this movie is wonderful. No way could anyone get away with producing such stuff today since so many people are offended by EVERYTHING. I have to admit that it was pretty well done even though picking Rosy Grier for his part was very odd in and of itself.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. Glad you like the films.
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